Marshall County, Indiana - Chapter 5: Preliminary Organization of the County - First Meeting of, 1881

Chapter 5: Preliminary Organization of the County - First Meeting of

PRELIMINARY ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY - FIRST MEETING OF BOARD oF COMMISSIONERS - CLERK APPUINTED - SEAL ADOPTED - ComMISsIONERS' Disrricts - First ELECTIONS - W HERE HELD - JUDGES AND INSPECTORS - THOSE LIVING WHO VOTED THEN - LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENT--COUNTY SEAT LocaTED - ORGANTZATION OF CouNTY InTO Townsirs - Report OF LocaTina COMMISSIONERS.

log house situated on Lot No. 42, corner of La Porte and Michigan streets. Mr. Pomeroy was a robust-built man, about five feet eight inches in height, and would weigh perhaps 180 pounds.

a - +__9 24 HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY. thumb. He then lays a piece of obsidian, or flint-stone in the | At this meeting, Robert Blair, Abraham Johnson and Charles

Ousterhaut were the Commissiontrs. Mr. Ousterhaut was perhaps the best known to the people of the county, at that time, of any who participated in the preliminary organization. He resided on the farm now owned by Mrs. Orr, one mile and a half south of Plymouth. He was a robust, athletic man, a Canadian by birth, and had seen a great deal of the world in his time. He spoke fluently the languages of the Pottawatomie and Miami tribes of Indians, also French and English. He was engaged in the war of 1812, serving his country as a spy. He was a sort of dare-devil, and was never satisfied unless he was at the " head of the procession." He figured extensively in the politics of his time, and was partially successful. He died a number of years ago with a disease known as gangrene. His leg was amputated twice, but his system had become so thoroughly inoculated with the disease that he lived but a short time after the operation.

After appointing Jeremiah Muncy Clerk during the term, the board adjourned to meet at the house of Charles Ousterhaut, at 1 o'clock P. M., the same day. The first business transacted was:

"Ordered by the board, that the seal of said Commissioners shall be a wafer with a paper placed on it in the shape of a diamond, sealed with a seal in the shape of a heart."

" Beginning at the northwest corner of said county, and running a due south course with the county line seven miles, to the corner of Sections 19 and 30, in Congressional Township No. 34 north; thence east with said line to the eastern boundary of said county. Said district to be known as District No. 1.

"Ordered, that District No. 2 begin on the western boundary line of said county, at the corner of District No. 1, and running with the said county line seven miles to the corner of Sections 30 and 31, in Congressional Township No. 33 north; thence east on the line of said section twenty-one miles to the eastern boundary line of said county, Said distriet to be known as District

"Ordered, that District No. 3 begin at the western boundary line of said county, commencing at the south corner of District No. 2, thence south with said county line seven miles to the southern boundary line of said county, thence east with the line of said county twenty-one miles to the eastern boundary line of said county. Said district to be known as District No. 3."

It was also ordered that District No. 1 be known by the name of North Township, District No. 2 by the name of Center Township, and District No. 3 by name of Green Township.

The elections in said townships were ordered to be held at the house of Adam Vinnedge, in North Township; at the house of Charles Ousterhaut, in Center Township; and at the house of Sidney Williams, in Green Township.

It will be observed, by reference to the county map, that the territory embraced in North Township was what is now German, North and Polk Townships; Center Township embraced what is now Bourbon, Center aud West; and Green Township embraced what is now Tippecanoe, Green, Walnut and Union.

The residence of Adam Vinnedge, the place designated for holding elections in North Township, was on the Michigan Road, about six miles north of Plymouth. Mr. Vinnedge was the father of Adam Vinnedge, now a resident of Plymouth. He was a man of energy, and took an active part in the affairs of the county in an early day.

The first election after the organization of the county was held on the Ist day of August, 1836, for the purpose of electing a Senator, Representative, Sheriff, Probate Judge, County Commissioner, School Commissioner, Coroner, and Justices of the Peace. In North Township there were thirty-seven votes cast.

John Johnson, James Palmer and Adam Snider were Judges of said election, and James Jones and Abraham Johnson, Clerks. Thomas Packard and Robert Johnson were elected Justices of the Peace for North Township.

these, so far as is known, but ten are now living, viz., Sidney Williams, Vincent Brownlee, John Greer, Joseph Evans, Elias Dickson, Ephraim Moore, Gilson S. Cleaveland, David R. Voreis, James Voreis, Benjamin Cruzan and William G. Pomeroy. Sidney Williams owned the farm on which Argos is now located. When the town was first organized, it was called Sidney, in honor of Mr. Williams. It is said he lives somewhere in Mllinois, and has become blind. Vincent Brownlee still lingers, and resides within a short distance of the old homestead, near Maxenkuckee Lake, where he first settled in 1836. John Greer resides a few miles southeast of Plymouth The cares of life have weighed lightly upon him, and to all appearances he has many years before him in which to enjoy the fruits of a hardearned competency. Joseph Evans resides two miles west of Plymouth; is hale and hearty, and is the same polite gentleman he was forty years ago. Elias Dickson has just turned his seventy-second year. He resides nine miles southwest of Plymouth, on the farm where he first settled in 1836. Ephraim Moore

James Voreis reside on their farms southwest of Plymouth, in Union and Green Townships. Pioneer life dealt gently with them, and they live happily and contented in the neighborhood where they first settled. Benjamin Cruzan was living, the last heard from him, somewhere in the West. W.G. Pomeroy resides in Rolla, Mo., and is engaged in the practice of law.

The act passed by the Legislature for the organization of the county was approved February 4, 1836. By whom it was introduced, and the preliminaries connected with its passage, nothing is known.

At that time Marshall County was designated as " unorganized territory," and of course the inhabitants had no " Honorable" gentleman to ring his clarion notes in the legislative halls of the State. St. Joseph and La Porte Counties had been organized six years previous, and it is probable the Representatives from those counties secured the passage of the bill. The act is as follows : Aw Act To Oroanize THE County or Mansnmann, Arrroven Frnrvany 4, 1836.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That, from and after the Ist day of April next, the county of Marshall shall enjoy all the rights and jurisdiction which belong to separate and independent counties.

Sec. 2. That Hiram Wheeler and Griffin Treadway, of La Porte County, and Samuel C. Sample and Peter Johnson, of St. Joseph County, and John Rohrer, of Elkhart County, be, and they are hereby appointed

Commissioners for the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice for the said county of Marshall, agreeably to the provisions of ''an act to estublish the seats of justice in new counties,' approved January 14, 1824. The Commissioners above named, or a majority of them, shall convene at the house of Grove Pomeroy, in said county, on the second Monday of June next, or as soon thereafter as a majority of them shall agree upon.

Sec. 8. It shall be the duty of the Sheriff of St. Joseph County to notify the Commissioners above named, either by person or in writing, of their appointment and place appointed for them to convene; and the Board doing county business shall allow said Sheriff reasonable compensation for said services out of any moneys in the treasury in said county of Marshall,

Sec 4. Circuit and other courts of said county shall be held at the house of Grove Pomeroy, or at any other place in said county where said courts may adjourn to, until suitable accommodations can be furnished at the seat of justice thereof, after which the courts shall be holden at the county seat.

Sec. 5. The agent who shall be appointed to superintend the sale of lots at the county seat of said county of Marshall, shall reserve ten per cent out of all donations to said county, and shall pay the same over to such person or persons as shall be authorized to receive the same for the use of a library for said county.

Sec. 6. The Board doing county business of Marshall County, when elected and qualified, may hold special sessions, not exceeding three days the first year after the organization of said county, and shall appoint a lister, and make all other necessary appointments, and do and perform all other business which might have been necessary to be performed at any regular session, and take all necessary steps to collect the State and county revenue.

Sere. 8. The northern boundary line of the county of Marshall shall be extended to an east and west line running through the center of Township 35 north.

County Seat Located

On the 20th day of July, 1836, the county seat was located at Plymouth by three of the Commissioners named by the Legislature for that purpose. This was done at a special session of the Board of Commissioners. Their report was as follows :

July Special Session, 1836, of Commissioners' Court: Now comes Peter Johnson, Griflin Treadway and Samuel C, Sample, three of the Commisssioners appointed by the act entitled 'An act to organize the county of Marshall, approved the 4th of February," and make the following report of their doings as Locating Commissioners of the permanent seat of justice of said county, to-wit:

To the Honorable, the Board of Commissioners of the County of Marshall: The undersigned, three of the Commissioners appointed by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, entitled "An act to organize the county of Marshall, approved February 4, 1836,"' respectfully report to your honors, that by an agreement entered into, by a majority of the Commissioners appointed by said act, the meeting of said Commissioners was agreed to be held at the house of Grove Pomeroy, in said county, on Monday, the 18th day of July, A. D. 1836, to discharge the duties assigned them by said act.

Whereupon, the undersigned, Peter Johnson, Griffin Treadway and Samucl C. Sample, three of said Commissioners (Hiram Wheeler and John Rohrer, two of the Commissioners, having failed to attend), having met at the house of Grove Pomeroy, on the said 18th day of July, 1836, for the purpose of permanently fixing the seat of justice for the said county of Marshall, they personally examined all the sites proposed to them, in said county for said seat of justice, and received propositions for donations for the same from the different proprietors of lands naming and proposing sites, and we, after such examination, and seeing and inspecting said propositions, have eoneluded and determined to fix, and by these presents do permanently locate, fix and establish the seat of justice of said county of Marshall at Plymouth. The site for the public buildings for said county is designated on a plat of said town as made by James Blair, John Sering and William Polk, proprictors of said town, the names being recorded in the county of St. Joseph, Indiana, the said site for said public buildings being, by said proprietors donated, among other things, to said county.

And the undersigned do farther report that the said Blair, Sering and Polk, in consideration of the location of said seat of justice at the place aforesaid, have donated to said county money and lands as follows: One thousand dollars in cash, payable as follows: $350 down in hand, paid to Peter Schroeder, County Agent, in our presence, $350 payable in one year from date, and $350 payable two years from date; for the payment of which, said proprictors have executed their notes, bearing date herewith, and the said proprietors have also donated to said county the following lots in said town, to wit: Lots number 1, 6, 10, 18, 18, 22, 28, 38, 37, 45, 48, 52, 57, 60, 63, 65, 70, 74, 78, 81, 86, 90, 93, 96, 99, 102, 105, 108, 112,

And also, the said proprietors have donated to said county one acre and four-fifths of an acre of land for a public burying-ground, lying in the southwest corner of the northwest quarter of Section thirteen (13), of Michigan road lands, the same lying west and south of Plum street, in said town; also two acres, more or less, of land for a site for a county seminary, bounded as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of Adams and Plum streets, in said town, thence southwardly with Plum street 264 feet to the northwest corner of Washington and Plum streets, thence west on a line on the south with Washington street, and on a line

(13); the said seminary lot to maintain a width of 264 feet, from east to west, and for which lots said proprietors have executed their deed to the County agent of said county, and for which lands for a burial-ground and seminary, they have executed their deed to your honors, for the uses aforesaid.

And the said proprietors have further agreed to build a temporary court house, not less than 30x20 feet, one story high, on Lot number 22, in said town; the county of Marshall to have the use of the same for the term of four years from the completion thereof, the same to be ready for the use of the county by the spring term of the Circuit Court of 1837; and for the completion of which house, and for the use thereof, as aforesaid, the proprietors have executed their bonds, payable to the Board of Commissioners, in the penal sum of $1,000, and the said proprietors have also ugreed to defray the expenses of the location of said site, being $45, and which sum they have paid to the undersigned. All of whieh deeds, and bonds and notes the undersigned herewith produce to your honors. All of which is respectfully submitted the 20th of July, 1836.

The county having been organized, the Board of Commissioners, consisting of Robert Blair, Abrahaza Johnson, and Charles Onusterhant, ordered the Clerk of the Board- - -Jeremiah Muncy - to file among the papers of the court the deeds for the lands

A few white settlers began to settle here in 1530, and in an unorganized condition the inhabitants were under the protecting care of St. Joseph County, which was organized in 1830. At that time St. Joseph County was bounded on the north by Michigan Territory; on the west by La Porte, and the unorganized territory south of La Porte; on the south by the unorganized lands, and on the east by the unorganized lands and Elkhart County. Its extent was about thirty miles from north to south, and twenty-seven miles from east to west, including an area of about 740 squaro miles, or 473,600 acres. Its population in 1830 was two hundred and eighty-seven inhabitants; in June, 1532, it was estimated at fifteen hundred, anc so great had been the emigration, it is said, that in 1833, the population was estimated at two thousand.

Bourbon Township was organized January 6, 1840, and was bounded as follows: Beginning in the southeast corner of the county and running to the German Township line, thence west five miles, thence south to the county line, thence east to the place of beginning. This territory embraced what is now Tippecanoe Township. The petitioners for the organization of Bourbon Township were James O. Parks, Grayson H. Parks, John F. Parks, Edward R. Parks, Thomas H. McKey, Peter Upsell, W. H. Rockhill, Israel Beeber, William Taylor, John Greer, William Elder, Jolen Henry, A. H. Buchman, Lyman Foote, Samuel Taylor, John F, Dukes, John Fuller, James Taylor, William Taylor, Jr George Taylor, Samuel Rockhill.

Union Township was organized March 1, 1840. The petitioners were Vincent Brownlee, William Thompson, John A. Shirley, Lewis Thompson, John Dickson, William Hornaday, John M. Morris, James Houghton, Elihu Morris, D. C. Hults, Thomas McDonald, John Morris, John H. Voreis, Platt B. Dickson, Elias Dickson, John McDonald, Eleazer Thompson. The prayer of the petitioners asked that the township might be called " Union."

Tippecanoe Township was organized March 9, 1542, embracing seven miles square off of the south end of Bourbon Township. The petitioners for the organization of the township were A. H. Buchman, Thomas Irwin, William Wagoner, Israel Baker, William Sprout, William H. Rockhill, Samuel, Joseph, William and George Taylor, Samuel Rockhill, J. H. Cleaver, T. H. MeKey, James Turner, Jacob Raber, G. H. and J. O. Parks, William Elder, Robert Milleny, H. Blakely, Solomon Linn, John Greer, Moses Greer, I. Reed, A. J. Cruzan.

Polk Township was organized March 4, 1845. It embraced all that part of North Township that lies west of Sections 23 and 24, in Township 35 north, of Range 1 east, and north on said line between Sections 23 and 24 in Township 35, Range 1 east, the same being the western portion of North Township.

March %, 1853, Franklin Township was organized by dividing to the south by therange line dividing Ranges 3 and 4, and embracing all that part of German Township lying east of said range line. January 7, 1555, the name of Franklin Township was changed, and it was thereafter ordered tobe designated on the county records as " German Township."

In 1853 a township was organized out of the west portion of Center, which was christened " Pierce" Township, but for some cause, which does not appear, the order was canceled and nothing was done to perfect the organization. On the 8th of March, 1854, it was placed upon record by the Board of Commissioners, that all that part of Center Township lying west of the range line dividing Ranges 1 and 2 east, be constituted into a civil township to be known as " West *' Township, and no change has since been made in its boundary lines.

Walnut Township was organized June 9, 1859, out of a portion of Tippecanoe and Green Townships. About one hundred and fifty inhabitants of the territory signed the petition. The towns of Sidney and Fremont lay very near each other, and the post office of these two places being named Argos, it was ordered that Sidney and Fremont be discontinued, and they were thereafter to be known as Argos. These comprise all the townships now organized, and they are classified in the following order: Union, Center, Green, Tippecanoe, Bourbon, Germau, North, Polk, West and Walnut. The name of North Township was changed from North to Dallas. This change occurred shortly after the organization of Polk Township. June 3, 1845, forty petitioners asked that the name be changed, and that the township be known as North Township, and it was decreed accordingly.

In 1842, March 9, the Board of Commissioners ordered that all that part of Stark County lying south and east of the Kankakee River be attached as follows: All that part lying west of Union Township be attached to and constitute a part of Union Township; all that part lying west of Center be attached to Center, and all that part lying west of North Township be attached to North Township. Previous to this, however, the "territory of Stark" had been partially organized into townships by the Commissioners of Marshall County. September 7, 1849, Amzi L. Wheeler, on behalf of himself and others, filed a petition for the organization of a new township in the county of Stark, embracing all the territory west of the Kankakee River, and to be known as Van Buren Township. The prayer of the petitioners was granted. Washington and California Townships were organized by the . Commissioners of Marshall County, before the act organizing Stark County was passed by the Legislature.

The foregoing comprises all the proceedings had in relation to the organization of the county, and the changes that have been made up to the present time. .